Tag Archives: 80’s Flashback

30 Years Ago At NYC’s Danceteria

Gothamist today points out this 1983 episode of New York Dance Stand, a public access show filmed (this time) at the famed Danceteria. On the playlist: Malcolm McLaren, New Order, Freez, Human League, Klaus Nomi, Yello, Men Without Hats, Gang Of Four, Ministry.

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#1 Thirty Years Ago Today

Thirty years ago this week disco/R&B star Linda Clifford enjoyed what would be her final of four Billboard dance chart toppers with Don’t Come Crying To Me. The track was written and produced by Michael Gore (Lesley’s brother) who was hot off winning two 1980 Oscars for writing and producing the Fame soundtrack title song. Gore is also revered among …

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#1 Thirty Years Ago Today

Joan Jett’s cover of the 1975 flop by British power pop band Arrows pulled her from the Runaways pack and into the hearts of baby dykes worldwide. One of those baby dykes was my clubbing pal Razor (real name: Dorothy), who emerged from Jett’s backstage to show me her hickey’d neck after I’d waited out front through a lackluster performance …

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#1 Thirty Years Ago Today

The flipside was Genius Of Love. It’s OK, I’ve overstood.

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#1 Twenty-Five Years Ago Today

His final dance chart topper. Recognize the girl?

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#1 Thirty Years Ago Today

One of the first and definitely the cheesiest of the beefcake pop music videos that would follow. Video bars were still in their infancy, but I vividly recall how the entire room would stop for this. The final scene always delivered a shout.

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25 Years Ago: October 1986

1. “When I Think Of You” – Janet Jackson2. “Typical Male” – Tina Turner3. “Throwing It All Away” – Genesis4. “Two Of Hearts” – Stacey Q5. “True Colors” – Cyndi Lauper6. “Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone)” – Glass Tiger7. “Heartbeat” – Don Johnson8. “Stuck With You” – Huey Lewis & The News9. “All Cried Out” – Lisa Lisa & …

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80’s Flashback

After The Fire, Der Kommissar, 1983. One year after Falco took his (mostly) German-language version of Der Kommissar to #1 in most of Europe (but only #72 in the U.S.), British prog-rockers After The Fire recorded a (mostly) English translation, taking it to #5 U.S., #47 UK. Falco’s hit came during an unprecedented (and unrepeated) string of U.S. hits by …

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80’s Flashback

Klymaxx, The Men All Pause, 1984. It wasn’t until their fourth album that the all-female Klymaxx scored their first hit single, taking the hilarious The Men All Pause to the Top Ten of the R&B and dance charts and into the repertoire and hairstyles of drag queens worldwide. The ladies saw similar success with the equally amusing follow-up, Meeting In …

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80’s Flashback

The Flying Pickets, Only You, 1983. In 1980 Vince Clarke was going through two divorces, one with his wife and one with Depeche Mode. It’s not known which divorce inspired Only You, but when Clarke’s former band declined to record it, he brought the track with him to Yaz/Yazoo. As the new band’s first release, in 1982 he and vocalist …

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80’s Flashback

The Singing Nun, Dominique (Disco Version), 1982. In 1963 Belgian nun Sister Luc-Gabrielle (real name: Jeanine Deckers) became a worldwide sensation as The Singing Nun when her album of original songs (recorded to be souvenirs for visitors to her convent) topped the charts across Europe. In the U.S. Dominique topped the pop charts for four weeks in December 1963, partially …

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80’s Flashback

Fun Boy Three featuring Bananarama, It Ain’t What You Do (It’s The Way That You Do It), 1982. After reaching only #92 UK with their first single, 1981’s Aie A Mwana (a cover of Black Blood’s Swahili-language 1975 proto-disco hit), Bananarama teamed up with former Special’s members Fun Boy Three for this cover of Ella Fitzgerald’s 1939 recording. It Ain’t …

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80’s Flashback

Jermaine Stewart, The Word Is Out, 1984. The slender, effeminate Stewart first gained notice for his flamboyant dancing on Soul Train, leading to gigs as a backup vocalist for Shalamar and Culture Club. Co-written with Culture Club bassist Mikey Craig, The Word Is Out, Stewart’s first single, was taken by gay audiences as a coming out anthem of sorts, even …

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80’s Flashback

The Clash, The Magnificent Seven, 1981. The third single from the band’s epic 1980 triple album Sandinista!, this was one of the Clash’s least commercially successful releases, reaching only #34 on the UK pop chart and failing to chart in the U.S. at all, other than reaching #21 on dance. But aside from being my second-favorite Clash track ever (after …

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80’s Flashback

a-ha, The Sun Always Shines On TV, 1985. The second hit single from their debut album, Hunting High And Low, this track didn’t do quite as well as 1984’s Take On Me, which went to #1 in a dozen countries, including the U.S. But it did reach the Top Ten in many places, even bettering the #2 peak of Take …

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80’s Flashback

Chaka Khan, I Feel For You, 1984. Lots of folks covered this track from Prince’s 1979 debut second album, including Rebbie Jackson, the Timberlake-Spears edition of the Mouseketeers, and the Pointer Sisters, whose limp 1982 version was particularly forgettable. But it was Chaka Khan who used the track to rocket out of her post-Rufus doldrums and return to the pop …

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80’s Flashback

Bucks Fizz, I Hear Talk, 1984. Named for the drink that Americans call a mimosa, the UK’s Bucks Fizz burst onto the scene in 1981 when they won the Eurovision Song Contest with the deliriously silly Making Your Mind Up. But it wasn’t until three #1’s and 12 Top 40 singles later that the band came to U.S. attention when …

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80’s Flashback

Boy Meets Girl, Waiting On A Star To Fall, 1988. While writing chart toppers for the likes of Whitney Houston and Bette Midler, real life couple George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam released several singles of their own before this slice of pop perfection broke through, hitting #5 in the U.S. and #9 in the UK. The duo had first offered …

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80’s Flashback

Sheila B. Devotion, Spacer, 1980. French pop singer Anne Chancel took this Chic production to the top five of most European countries and the top of the American dance charts, selling five million copies along the way. Most of you tender kittens will know Spacer as the basis for Alcazar’s 2000 smash, Crying At The Discotheque. It was a great …

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80’s Flashback

Roni Griffith, (The Best Part Of) Breakin’ Up, 1982. OK, so it’s summer of ’82 and I’m at T-dance at Backstreet, Fort Lauderdale, watching the fabulous Sharon Redd. At the end of her set, DJ Bob Miro booms out in his unmistakable game show host voice, “Neeeeeeext Sunday! Rrrrrrroni Griffith will be here with her coconuts!” And the following weekend …

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